2021-2022 BK everything thread

[Highbeam]

It seems like you run your BK very hard.

-50F!! It’s just hard to imagine. Would love to experience that sometime.

I’ve had creosicles in just 10-20 degree weather because I was running low flue temperatures. Not so much due to extreme ambient temperatures.

 

[stoveliker]

Not sure what the color of creosicles would be, but I've had white, faintly yellow icicles hanging from my cap in 20 F weather. (Tall stack, so cooler flue up top.)

 

[Diabel]

I truly appreciate all the responses. I worry about the T filling up with water (initially I thought it was side rain).
My creocicles are clear looking on the BK pipe, not so much on the VC pipe.
Did not clean the pipe this season as I was not burning Jan 2021 on.

 

[mlsoden907]

Sorry for the delay. I am not sure how much overtime I have been working in the last 16 days or so, but it has been an unreasonable amount.

Do we see creo-sicles around Fairbanks, yes. Do I see creo-sicles on my stack, only very rarely. Our local BK dealer is excellent. If they installed your chimney and aren't worried, you are golden.

The main thing I see now that I have caught up from having been tagged, is the bake portion, bake down, bake out portion of the burn.

When I am down to hot coals, a glob maybe basketball sized +/- it is time to reload. Then get all the coals lined up somewhere, manual says to the front, then load the firebox to the gills, to the rafters, cram every stick in there you can.

With the loading door opened and the bypass door open, let the coals catch the new fuel on fire. Once the new fuel has caught good, leave the loading door just cracked with the bypass door still open and let the new fuel get to a good ripping burn. When it is first getting going you will hear kind of huff-pause-huff-pause. Once it is drawing good and the fuel is well caught you should hear just a steady rush or roar.

Close the loading door. WIth the bypass door still open we now wait for the combustor temp to come up to the active zone. On a hot reload, my definition, the combustor hasn't dropped out of the active zone. With the new fuel well engulfed, the loading door closed, the combustor up to active zone, now we close the bypass door and enter the bake down zone.

Or bake out, or just the "bake" What you got is a box full of desirable new fuel under 20% MC, but closed up inside a steel box at 600 degrees F. The last of that water is getting baked out now. Takes about half an hour. Leave the thermostat, the throttle at full, top of the swoosh, let it thunder while that free water gets baked out.

Then, after the 30 minutes, with your new fuel baked down to 0.000% moisture content in a 600 degree oven, now turn the throttle/thermostat down to your desired cruise setting. No more creosicles.

Thanks for the detailed info. I will keep this in mind going forward. I have not been packing my stove full, have been building smaller fires as suggested in the manual but don’t think I was burning them long enough. Like Diabel if I run my stove wide open my cat meter is pegged to the high side of the active zone after about 15-20 minutes. Should I be concerned about that? Seems that if I ran if longer it would get too hot. Will try a couple of full firebox loads and see if that changes how long I can burn wide open.

 

[Poindexter]

Thanks for the detailed info. I will keep this in mind going forward. I have not been packing my stove full, have been building smaller fires as suggested in the manual but don’t think I was burning them long enough. Like Diabel if I run my stove wide open my cat meter is pegged to the high side of the active zone after about 15-20 minutes. Should I be concerned about that? Seems that if I ran if longer it would get too hot. Will try a couple of full firebox loads and see if that changes how long I can burn wide open.

Is this a new stove? Sorry, I am too tired to remember the name of two of my four kids tonight. On a brand new stove, or a new replacement combustor in an older stove, the catalytic combustor is going to be "hyperactive" for the first half cord, first cord, something like that before it settles down. Sort of like a puppy.

If your catalytic combustor has processed more than one cord of smoke at 19% MC and still gets above the active zone you can either praise Jesus you got a factory freak out of the box, or call the dealer to ask if you should be concerned about that. I am on my fourth or fifth combustor now, one of them took two cords to settle down, the other ones all settled down before they had finished chomping one cord of smoke.

 

[mlsoden907]

Is this a new stove? Sorry, I am too tired to remember the name of two of my four kids tonight. On a brand new stove, or a new replacement combustor in an older stove, the catalytic combustor is going to be "hyperactive" for the first half cord, first cord, something like that before it settles down. Sort of like a puppy.

If your catalytic combustor has processed more than one cord of smoke at 19% MC and still gets above the active zone you can either praise Jesus you got a factory freak out of the box, or call the dealer to ask if you should be concerned about that. I am on my fourth or fifth combustor now, one of them took two cords to settle down, the other ones all settled down before they had finished chomping one cord of smoke.

It is a new stove, just a couple of weeks of use so far

 

[Poindexter]

It seems like you run your BK very hard.

I have not modified my BK. I have maintained it, gaskets and combustors and stuff, but it is otherwise factory/ stock/ EPA certified.

I run at full throttle/ full thermostat/ top of the swoosh a lot and I haven't hurt the stove. At least six weeks year after year, more or less Christmas to Valentine's Day. I really wanted a BK Princess, but my wife wanted either a BK Ashford 30.0 in Dutch Blue or some make other than BK. I wanted a BK Princess first, any BK second and no wood stove at all third.

Since the Dutch Blue enamel never made it into production we compromised on an Ashford 30.0 in Chestnut Brown in May 2014 and I have beating on this thing like a red headed stepchild for seven years now. If the Ashford 30 could not handle extended operation at wide open throttle they would have lowered the wide open throttle setting.

If you got good gaskets, the loading door closed and the catalytic combustor engaged you are not going to hurt this stove at full swoosh.

 

[mlsoden907]

I have not modified my BK. I have maintained it, gaskets and combustors and stuff, but it is otherwise factory/ stock/ EPA certified.

I run at full throttle/ full thermostat/ top of the swoosh a lot and I haven't hurt the stove. At least six weeks year after year, more or less Christmas to Valentine's Day. I really wanted a BK Princess, but my wife wanted either a BK Ashford 30.0 in Dutch Blue or some make other than BK. I wanted a BK Princess first, any BK second and no wood stove at all third.

Since the Dutch Blue enamel never made it into production we compromised on an Ashford 30.0 in Chestnut Brown in May 2014 and I have beating on this thing like a red headed stepchild for seven years now. If the Ashford 30 could not handle extended operation at wide open throttle they would have lowered the wide open throttle setting.

If you got good gaskets, the loading door closed and the catalytic combustor engaged you are not going to hurt this stove at full swoosh.

Excellent, thank you very much.

 

[Poindexter]

I truly appreciate all the responses. I worry about the T filling up with water (initially I thought it was side rain).
My creocicles are clear looking on the BK pipe, not so much on the VC pipe.
Did not clean the pipe this season as I was not burning Jan 2021 on.

I got to pass on this one. I am tagging @begreen who has seen one of everything and @stoveliker who has thought a fair bit more about airflow dynamics in chimneys than me.

TL;DR, I dont like Ts.

I have lived in a couple homes where a T made sense. Any home where the architect made the framers crazy with sunken living rooms or a jacuzzi bathtub up on a pedestal like some kind of altar to soap bubbles and forced air heat is going to be a nightmare wood stove install. With both of those I have lived in it would have made sense to put the wood stove on an exterior wall for best (marginal) interior heat distribution, run 4-6 feet of vertical interior pipe off the stove collar, punch the exterior wall, install an exterior T....

The main advantage I can see to an exterior T is you can brush bottom up in lousy weather without getting up on the roof and without getting crud all over the living room carpet.

The main disadvantage I see is the homeowner will have to burn 'some' extra wood to keep the chimney hot compared to an interior stack.

No judgement zone here. I have lived [qv] in houses where an external T was the least bad option.

When I have creo-sicles they generally look like frozen apple juice. I do have a neighbor who can make black ones.

 

[Poindexter]

-50F!! It’s just hard to imagine. Would love to experience that sometime.

I’ve had creosicles in just 10-20 degree weather because I was running low flue temperatures. Not so much due to extreme ambient temperatures.

-50dF is hard to imagine. I flew home from the lower 48 one winter, it was -55dF on the ground. The airport ground crew brought over a pickup truck with what looked like an enormous hair dryer in the bed to thaw out the door seals on the plane so they could open the door for the passengers to get out. Brief delay recovering my checked bag that night too.

I am not sure we can use the acronym OMGWTFBBQ on this website, but trying to do life at -40dF and colder is pretty much one experience after the other of OMGWTFBBQ over and over and over, but it keeps the wankers out. Let us do a house swap next time it is in the forecast. I wil play in your shop and you can go door to door (in my truck) dealing with my customers in their homes.

I fully agree creo-sicles are a function of flue gas temperature, outdoor ambient temperature and total suspended water vapor in the flue gasses. if the flue gas is a little too cool, or the outdoor ambient a little too low or the amount of water vapor in the gas stream a little too high, creo-sicles start forming. If they are clear to light yellow and are getting melted off every week or so I don't see a problem.

 

[Poindexter]

Not sure what the color of creosicles would be, but I've had white, faintly yellow icicles hanging from my cap in 20 F weather. (Tall stack, so cooler flue up top.)

White faintly yellow, awesome. Have some eggnog. If you google up "Shanghai 1920 eggnog" you will find several variations on a theme. Mix some up this weekend and you will be in tall cotton come Christmas time. Ground nutmeg from the store is an abomination that should have been listed in Leviticus chapter 18. Get the full berries and a grater. Happy holidays!

 

[Poindexter]

It is a new stove, just a couple of weeks of use so far

I would be ecstatic to be going into January with a hyperactive combustor - but we are going into December.

I am on call, again, tomorrow night, but will try to keep an eye here over the long weekend. I am going to have to do about 16 hours Friday since I am not allowed to see people on Thursday (woo-hoo) but there are no idiots on staff at our local BK dealer that I know of.

When you open the loading door, fill it to the rafters, bake it on high for 30 minutes once you have the combustor engaged, and you should do fine. Did you air dry your fuel or get kilned dried fuel from either of Aurora or Big Mike?

 

[charger4406]

I clean mine about mid season, but not really necessary as it
really is not all that dirty, as long as your wood is good and dry,
below 20% humidity, hope you like the new stove, mine has been
a good heater.

how often does a person need to clean the flue when burning 24/7?

 

[RockyMtMan]

I clean mine about mid season, but not really necessary as it
really is not all that dirty, as long as your wood is good and dry,
below 20% humidity, hope you like the new stove, mine has been
a good heater.

Do you seem to have to clean more when burning pine? I will be burning more pine than I like, but that seems to be what I can get. I know my old stove would creosote up burning pine. Don't have a feeling for what a CAT does with pine yet. I know it seems to burn fine when dry.

 

[stoveliker]

@Diabel
Is your T insulated too?

If so, the only thing I can say is that it appears your chimney is not warm enough - that is, warm enough to avoid condensation. That means also that whenever your cat starts dying, the creosote will accumulate fast if you don't notice it quickly.

If you really don't need the heat in the home, running the stove a bit higher is not a good option. Then I suggest to really char long and high so that your chimney at least heats up well in the beginning, hoping it will remain hot enough through the initial burn phase.

But you'll always have water forming in burning wood, and if you flow it over a surface cooler than 100 c, it'll condense.

I see no other way out other than further insulating the pipe. Not sure that (insulated chase at 2" clearance?) is allowed though (I suspect not).

I would make sure you empty the T before you let it cool down (to freezing) if you don't need the stove at some point. Don't want expanding ice to create cracks and leaks...

 

[Diabel]

@Diabel
Is your T insulated too?

If so, the only thing I can say is that it appears your chimney is not warm enough - that is, warm enough to avoid condensation. That means also that whenever your cat starts dying, the creosote will accumulate fast if you don't notice it quickly.

If you really don't need the heat in the home, running the stove a bit higher is not a good option. Then I suggest to really char long and high so that your chimney at least heats up well in the beginning, hoping it will remain hot enough through the initial burn phase.

But you'll always have water forming in burning wood, and if you flow it over a surface cooler than 100 c, it'll condense.

I see no other way out other than further insulating the pipe. Not sure that (insulated chase at 2" clearance?) is allowed though (I suspect not).

I would make sure you empty the T before you let it cool down (to freezing) if you don't need the stove at some point. Don't want expanding ice to create cracks and leaks...

Yes it is insulated. I am going to clean the pipe tomorrow and burn on high for 30min. I will also use hardwood as fuel. I believe the maple is 3-4yrs split/stacked and top covered. I will resplit one log and check the moisture. The high burn will be good for the firebox and glass.

 

[charger4406]

Have not burned much pin, but I have burned
some tamarack/larch and hemlock and found
no difference in how clean it burned, although
it was less than a cord.

 

[bikedennis]

Concern regarding my bypass. Sirocco 30.2 have been using for about a month. Have not felt the "click" when closing the bypass just a little resistance. I didn't give it a lot of thought. Today, after reload there was an noticeable "click" as the handle fell into place. Was I burning with the cat exposed to danger and did I cause damage?

 

[Highbeam]

Concern regarding my bypass. Sirocco 30.2 have been using for about a month. Have not felt the "click" when closing the bypass just a little resistance. I didn't give it a lot of thought. Today, after reload there was an noticeable "click" as the handle fell into place. Was I burning with the cat exposed to danger and did I cause damage?

This is an issue I have dealt with as well because I always want to keep things running well. First, when the stove is cool, reach up into the open bypass with your hand and sweep the gasket of any debris. I do this out of habit with every reload unless it's a very hot reload. If you have lots of junk up there in the cat chamber then it might be wise to remove the flue and vacuum it out from all sides of the bypass opening as though you had swept the chimney.

Then when you open the bypass, kind of flip it back and forth a bit to center the bypass plate pins in the slots.

Finally, yes, you want to feel a thunk, click, or cam over feeling when you close the bypass. If you don't feel and hear it then your bypass tension is too loose. This is adjustable by removing the flue and reaching in from above. Running with loose tension won't hurt anything but it is possible that some smoke could leak past the seal and not combust in the catalyst.

When the bypass lever makes that "clunk" sound, you can actually see the bypass plate slide forward a little. It's a bit of a wonky, but apparently effective, mechanism.

 

[bikedennis]

Thanks for the response. My only concern is this is a brand new stove and I didn't have the "clunk" or "click" from day one so I doubt that it's debris. I assumed everything was OK until now I get the sound. Also I thought that the stove was smoking out the chimney more than I thought that it should. Justified it saying to myself it must be mostly steam. No smoke now. I will check the tension.

 

[Poindexter]

I have to push down on the bypass lever to get the bypass door on my 30.0 to latch shut. The first couple years I just flipped the lever over and let the weight of the bypass door on the gasket be the seal.

When my burn times started dropping, I think it was the third season with the stove, I learned about pushing down on the lever to make the bypass door latch "cam over." Still using the factory bypass door gasket here.

 

[TheElementalCashew]

Is this a problem? Interior pipe is single wall. As you can see from the dust, there is enough space around the collar to where air is being sucked from the house into the pipe. It creates an audible whistling sound, especially when the fire is running hot. The stove seems to run fine, but the sound can be annoying.

 

[stoveliker]

You can crimp the end a bit more to get it farther in. If you don't need a collar adapter (others will be able to advise on that).

 

[rdust]

Current state


Yes, my t-stat has numbers. No reason to be jealous.

 

[Highbeam]

Current state

View attachment 286296 View attachment 286297 View attachment 286298

You and I have very similar setups. I too must spin the cat meter 180 degrees to provide clearance for the needle from the convection deck. I too have numbers on my stat and run at the same place for low burn, I too have a cool condar cat meter with numbers.